BACKGROUND: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a destructive syndrome with a mortality rate of 50%. Recent studies have also suggested a high pervasiveness of hypothalamic-pituitary insufficiency in up to 45% of patients after aSAH. Prolactin has been associated with the pathogenesis of hypertensive irregularities that are linked to pregnancy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We identified a group of 141 patients with spontaneous SAH due to a ruptured cerebral aneurysm; these patients were operated on at our institution’s Neurosurgery and Interventional Radiology Department between 2011 and June 2015. All of the data were obtained retrospectively from medical records.

RESULTS: The hormonal abnormalities observed in the initial 24 h after ictus in subjects with subarachnoid SAH were caused by stressful stimulation aggravated by intracranial bleeding.

CONCLUSIONS: The elevated prolactin levels that occur in patients with aSAH can be used in conjunction with other auxiliary factors that we believe may be beneficial to vasospasm.

Keywords: prolactin, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Vasospasm, Intracranial